Life with the Conleys

The day before Mother's Day we went to Northwest Trek with Lynn, Angie, and their kids, and Dan, Ashley, and their kids. It was a fun outing and everyone seemed to have a good time. We saw eagles, owls, grizzly bears, wolves, wolverine, bison, big horn sheep, mountain goats, porcupine, and many more! Coyote  Mountain Lion  An impromptu game of "Ring around the Rosie".  Otter Badger Elijah loves to spend time with his cousins! He really has a great time whenever they are around. I love that he  has cousins so close by. Yesterday we did our first hike-like outing of the year. We went to Flaming Geyser State Park, which sounds like it would be impressive but is not so. It was fun to be out of the house and seeing Eli navigate the trails was really fun. We are really looking forward to summer so we can do some more hiking and camping. Getting ready to start hiking Hiking with daddy The Flaming Geyser Navigating the root...

The only pictures we managed to take in April were of an outing to a spring fair. Josh and I both enjoy fairs and we thought Eli would as well. He wasn't sure about the petting zoo but he really liked the elephant ear. Not too certain about the goat Looking at the other animals Making a grab for the camera A few weeks after the fair was Easter and Eli participated in his first egg hunt. He didn't quite get the concept, but had a grand time anyway.  On our way to the park for the festivities Egg Hunting Got one! This was his haul  Love this guy!

No more lounging around for this baby. One year of play was enough, now it's time to get to work! Supervising Grandpa to make sure he does everything right. Pulling weeds Rock tasting. (tough job and someone has to do it) Digging That is one dirty little boy. Seems like owning a home would be loads of fun, but it turns there is a lot of work involved too. Good thing we have a helper or we wouldn't get it all done.  Really though, we love the house! There are a lot of projects that we want to get done, but I'm sure there will always be projects that we want to get done. It feels awesome to have a place to call our own. We are looking forward to years of love and laughter and joy in our new home. Work too, but that makes it even better. 

That's right, Eli turned one on Sunday. We celebrated a few days early and it was quite the party! There were two grandparents, two parents, two aunts, two uncles, seven cousins, and one birthday boy. It was noisy and fun and Eli seemed to have a great time showing off the new house to his cousins. Since he was born he has grown 11 inches and gained 14 pounds. He sure is getting big! It is difficult to believe that it's been a year since he joined our family. Life has certainly changed but it's been a change for the better. We love this boy more than anything and are looking forward to the years to come. Mmm, pizza!  Opening presents with some help from cousins  Showing off for the grown-ups  Yes, the frosting is pink. I didn't think about strawberry frosting turning pink and by the time I realized it, we were past the point of no return. Luckily I got this mistake out of the way before he is old enough to care.   Trying the frosting. ...

Happy Valentines Day from the cutest member of the Conley family. Please note that teeth that Eli is now sporting. Yay for teeth!

Church was cancelled today because of snow. We spent some of our morning out enjoying the fluff. Well, Josh and I enjoyed it. Eli wasn't quite sure what to think.

A few days ago The Pants left a little note for me on our chalkboard. It was sweet, simple, and made my day. Over the next few days the note evolved as we each made additions to the original message. It is quite possible that I have the best husband in the world. Start Finish